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Inside The Bills

The Thursday night game for the Bills in Week 2 is their home opener on their 2016 schedule. On a short week the benefit is the Jets, their opponent on Thursday night, is a familiar opponent. But there is another major benefit for Buffalo’s coaching staff in having a game on a short week that early in the season.

NFL coaching staffs always begin preparing for their Week 1 opponent as early as three weeks prior to the opener. Seeing that Thursday night game sitting just four days later on the schedule in Week 2, so Buffalo’s coaching staff will also put together at least some of their game plan for the Jets before the season even starts.

“That’s exactly when we’ll do it,” said Bills head coach Rex Ryan in an appearance on the John Murphy Show Thursday night. “We’re very familiar with them. They haven’t had any major staff changes, but yes we’ll be getting some work on them in the preseason. Baltimore is a physical team and then you’ve got to turn around on a short week and play the Jets, another physical team on a short week. So we’ve got to be up for that.”

It’s a much more favorable situation for Rex Ryan’s staff to have the extra time to prepare for a short week heading into the season than a Thursday night game in Week 8 when they’ve got to burn the midnight oil to get a full game plan in.